flattery
noun
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Definition of flattery
1a : the act or practice of flattering She uses the art of flattery to her advantage.
b(1) : something that flatters A compliment is flattery …— Harry Shaw
(2) : insincere or excessive praise He tried to win his teacher's favor with flattery.
2 obsolete : a pleasing self-deception
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Synonyms for flattery
Synonyms
adulation, blarney, butter, flannel [British], incense, overpraise, soft soap, sweet talk, taffy
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Examples of flattery in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Like the old adage that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. — Emily Farra, Vogue, "Maurizio Cattelan On The Artist Is Present, His Mind-Bending New Exhibit With Alessandro Michele in Shanghai," 22 Oct. 2018 But, the bodice similarities do beg the question, is imitation truly the sincerest form of flattery? — Carrie Goldberg, Harper's BAZAAR, "Kate Middleton's BFF Wore a Wedding Dress That Looked a LOT Like Hers," 24 Sep. 2018 Think: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Here are your 2018 Ig Nobel Prize winners," 13 Sep. 2018 The Trump-Fox connection … extends beyond friendship and flattery to outright advocacy. — Rachel Van Dongen, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: One Republican senator has the power to defeat Trump's Supreme Court nominee," 2 July 2018 In simple frontier language, the budding but unpolished genius quickly demonstrated a unique ability to use embellishment, hyperbole, satire, caricature, parody, mock-flattery, and ridicule to flay bare essential truth. — Gregory Crouch, Time, "Mark Twain Claimed He Got His Pen Name From a Riverboat Captain. He May Have Actually Gotten It in a Saloon," 19 June 2018 Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? — Susan Brickell, Health.com, "6 Times Jenna Dewan Was #FitnessGoals on Instagram," 19 June 2018 Travolta, 64, a Hollywood survivor, has been around long enough to know how vulnerable newspaper journalists are to idle flattery, especially about newspapers. — Gary Thompson, Philly.com, "John Travolta talks about 'Gotti' and whether Sandy is really dead in 'Grease'," 14 June 2018 That language is the language of flattery, not of fire and fury. — Chris Cillizza, CNN, "Donald Trump's war against himself leads to North Korea summit cancellation," 24 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'flattery.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for flattery
flattery
noun
English Language Learners Definition of flattery
: praise that is not sincere
See the full definition for flattery in the English Language Learners Dictionary
flattery
noun
\
Kids Definition of flattery
: praise that is not deserved or meant
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